Saturday, October 13, 2012

Welding is going rather well and we are nearing midterms rather quickly. I
have mastered Arc Welding in the flat position and have finished with the vertical. I am now struggling with the overhead position and will eventually go to a bend test. I will have pictures of my projects up in a few days as my phone
is charging (stupid battery life).

Welding test one consisted of this attached image:

It has 2 triangles and one base plate. The main issue that I had on this one
was the staggered welds on the inner side of the first triangle. Staggered
welds are measured from the middle of the first run to the middle of the
second. Another way to look at it is that you weld 2 inches skip 2 inches and
weld 2 inches. The main issue is that using any oxyacetylene torch to hand cut
materials is not for those who have shaky hands. I spent forever on the
grinding wheel to get my parts to resemble a triangle again.

Our second test was even more insidious with hidden lines and upside down
triangles. Some people misread the blue print and welded on the wrong side due
to the drawing design. Which tipped me off to look at the drawing again as some people
were carbon arcing their plates to remove their welds.

Our last test was to build a 6"x 6" box out of 1/4 inch steel. This threw everyone off as we had to account for the thickness of the material to achieve the 6 inches on both sides. Tacking the plates was also an issue as evertime you tacked a side you had to square it as well. My box turned out fairly well but was a little off square.

I have some blueprints at school and will bring them home as the
opportunity presents itself. I am having a lot of fun welding regardless of the
cursing at welding in a overhead position.